The invention herein pertains to chalk line devices as are used in construction and other industries and in particular pertains to a chalk collector for use therewith.
Chalk line devices and assemblies have been commercially available for many years which include a housing containing a spool of line and powdered chalk. As the chalk line is withdrawn from the housing for marking purposes such as forming chalk lines on a roof while laying shingles, the line passes through contained powdered chalk which adheres to the outer surface of the line. After a mark is made with the withdrawn chalk line, the chalk line can be reeled back into the housing where it again passes through a reservoir of chalk and is ready for use again. Such reel containing chalk line assemblies are effective but waste great percentages of chalk since cotton or other absorbent type lines pick up excess chalk which is dispersed into the atmosphere as the chalk line is withdrawn from the housing. Even newer chalk line assemblies having internal chalk line xe2x80x9cbladesxe2x80x9d or fiber masses do not remove all the excess line chalk. Thus, about fifty percent of the powdered chalk contained within the housing is dispersed or wasted immediately as the chalk line is withdrawn. Only about one-half of the chalk actually remains on the line for use in marking purposes. In addition to the excess waste, chalk dust can cause health problems to individuals and other animals that are subjected thereto. Dangerous allergic reactions can occur to workers that continually use chalk lines daily. Also, the constant use of a chalk line assembly can be expensive as the powdered chalk supply must be replenished frequently.
Thus, with the problems and disadvantages associated with prior art chalk line devices, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide an attachment for a conventional chalk line assembly which eliminates and remedies the problem of excess chalk which is carried on a chalk line
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a chalk collector and a method of use which allows excess chalk to be saved and returned to the chalk line assembly
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a method for collecting excess chalk from a chalk a line utilizing an attached collector.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a chalk line collector which will easily, readily return the excess chalk to the assembly housing for reuse.
Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing a method and chalk collector which can be attached to the top of a conventional reel-type chalk line assembly. The chalk collector includes a passageway through which the chalk line passes with sufficient volume to receive a substantial quantity of excess powdered chalk which is dispelled from the chalk line as it passes therethrough.